Vessel-salvaging apparatus



C. BUNK AND H. F. KUECHLER.v

VESSEL SALVAGING APPARATUS.

APPLICAIION FILED APR.14, 1921.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

\ gs vva w 15 0 Z Z) Ehri 571i an Bunk HEP-many FKuE ch12? UNITED ISTATES PATENT OFFICE- CHBISTIAN BUNK AND HERMANN F. KUECHLER, OFKENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

VESSEL-SALVAGING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHRISTIAN BUNK and HERMANN F. K EOHLER, a citizenof German Republic and a citizen of-the United States, respectively, andresidents of Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of lVisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vessel-SalvagingApparatus; and we do hereby declare that the, following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.-

Theinvention relates to improvements in vessel salvaging'apparatus, andmore particularly to a type ofthe same adapted to be permanentlycarried'on a vessel as a part of its regular or standard equipment.

The principal object of the invention is to provide for an apparatus ofthe character mentioned, and ,one of an extremely simplifiedconstruction capable of being installed on new vessels during, theirbuilding, or on old vessels, without seriously affecting the presentdesign of-such vessels,-

and without utilizing an appreciable amount of the otherwise valuablespace within the hull portions thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the typespecified, and one which is automatically rendered available for use inconnection with the raising operation of the sunken vesselsimultaneously with the sinking of the latter.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus ofthe classset forth, and one embodying a tell-tale means for indicating the exactposition of a sunken vessel so that the same may be readily lo cated forthe salvaging operation after having-been sunk for a long period oftime.

ith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides inthe certain novel and useful construction and arrangement of parts aswill be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appendedclaim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a sectional view through a body of water in which a vessel having theinvention installed thereon has been sunk, the vessel being shown inside elevation with the tell-tales of the salvaging apparatus floatingon the surface of the water, and

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through the hull of the vesseland through one of the wells thereof in which is located one of theunits of the salvaging apparatus.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates generally the hullportion of a vessel, and 11 one of the wells disposed vertically withinthe same, two or more of such wells being provided depending upon thelength of the particular hull in which the apparatus is to be installed.As shown in Figure 1, however, two of these wells 11 are ordinarilyused, and are disposed on the longitudinal center of the hull 10, onespaced inwardly of thebow end thereof and the other inwardly of thestern end of'the same.

Each well 11 comprises a metal casing 12, of a suitable height to havethe lower end thereof. secured to the bottom wall of the hull 10, orotherwise passed through the wall and secured to a metal sheathing orreinforcement 13 secured on the under sur face of the latter, and theupper end of the same opening through the upper deck of the vessel. Theupper open end of the casing 12 is formed to provide an outwardlyextending or right angular flange 1 adapted to closely overliethe'adjacent edges of the deck flooring, and an inwardly extending orright angular flange 15 upon which is to be seated a buoy or float (athelatter being held in position thereon, against all lateral displacement,by means'of a vertically extending flange 16, all of the flanges 14-, 15

and 16 being extended entirely around the walls, or wall, as the casemay be, of the casing. These casings 12 may be'either square, oblong orcircular in horizontal cross-section, and the floats a and bcorrespondingly shaped to seat on the flanges 15 thereof in a manner tonormally close the open ends of the samef Each buoy, or float a and Z)is provided with an eye member or bolt 17 secured centrally in the underface thereof for the attaching thereto the free end of a rope or cable18 which is normally coiled upon the vertically disposed cone shapedmember 19, the base of which is supported upon an angle member 20secured to the intermediate Patented Feb. 7, 1922. Application filedApril 14, 1921. Serial No. 461,236.

of the casing 12, the lower end link of the same being loosely secured,but permanently, in an eye bolt 2a which is passed through the bottomwall of the hull 10 and headed on its opposite ends so as to be securelyincorporated in the latter.

With two, or more, of the wells 11 installed on a vessel as indicatedherein, and with the salvaging units assembled therein and otherwisearranged in accordance with with the invention, immediately upon thesinking of the vessel from any cause whatever, the buoys or floats a andb will float free from the open ends of the casings 12 and the cablewill uncoil from the cone according to the depth to which the vesselsinks, and, should the cablesbe insufficient for the purpose of allowingthe floats t0 1 remain on the surface, the chains 22 will be withdrawnfrom the lower portion of the casings, it being understood that thetotal length of the cables and chains will be sufficient for at leastthe average depth of the water on which the vessel will travel on ,aparticular or regular voyage, .so that the buoys or floats will remainon the surface as tell-tales for the location of the same for salvagingoperations. After a sunken vessel has been located, as indicated by thepresence of the floats, the exact position of the same is to bedetermined by the relative position of the latter, and the savlagingcrew will then be able to proceed with the necessary work of raising thevessel to the surface, such as will be readily accomplished, andotherwise greatly facilitated, by hauling the cables upward until theattached ends of the chains 22 are above the level of the water, whensuitable power means can be attached thereto for the winding up of thesame and the subsequent hoisting of the vessel.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that the inventionprovides for a very efficient means for the accomplishment of thedesired purposes of the same; that under ordinary circumstances theraising or salvaging of a vessel is assured by reason of the hoistingchains being permanently secured to the hull of the same; that thesalvaging operation is greatly simplified by reason of the importantpart of the necessary apparatus which is permanently installed onvessels as a standard part of their equipment or as an addition to suchequipment; that the exact location and position of a sunken vessel willbe readily ascertained' by the provision of buoys or floats con nectedtoward the opposite ends of the hull portion thereof; and that theexpenditure in time, money and lives will be reduced to a minimum inraising simply a vessel on which theapparatus is installed as comparedwith the present and knownmethods of salvaging operations.

It is well understood that the construction and arrangement of the partsof the invention as described herein is subject to unlimited variations,changes, modifications, and substitution of equivalents, without thesame being construed as being a departure from the scope of .the claimappended hereto. 7

Having thus fully described our invention, what is claimed is:

In combination with a vessel, of a casing formed therein, a buoyclosingsaid casing at its upper end, a vertical disposed conical sleeve withinthe casing, a cord wound'upon the exterior of said sleeve and attachedat one end to said buoy, the other end of the cord passing through thesleeve and adapted to be attached to a lifting cable coiled within thecasing and thelatter being attached to the ship.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsat Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

CHRISTIAN BUNK. HERMANN r. KUECHLER,

